Yunji's Shares Soar 41% on IPO Day

Shares in the e-commerce company were trading up 41 percent on its debut day on Wall Street.

Yunji Inc.(Nasdaq: YJ), a membership-based social e-commerce platform, debuted on Wall Street Friday, raising $121 million in its initial public offering, and enjoyed a 41 percent stock jump by noon.

Shares in the Chinese company opened at $13.42 apiece, already 22 percent above the $11 issue price, and rose to $15.51 per share.

The Hangzhou-based company, which stated its mission is "to make commerce simpler and people's lives better," sold 11 million ADSs at the low end of the expected range of between $11 to $13 per share.

The amount of the offering was reduced from the $200 million Yunji targeted in its March filings.

Yunji targets primarily middle-class consumers prone to use online social media to discuss their shopping experience and products. It sells products in various categories and partners with mainstream and emerging brands, as well as with manufacturers to produce private labels, it said.

For 2018, Yunji reported 23.2 million users, up from 16.9 million in 2017 and 2.5 million in 2016. As of Dec. 31, it had 7.4 million members. Its gross merchandise volume (GMV) last year reached 22.7 billion yuan, up 134 percent from 2017. Of all purchasers in 2018, 66 percent were members of the platform. ts revenue doubled to $1.9 billion in 2018, while net loss fell in half to $8.2 million from 2017.